29 July 2010

setting up for multiple creative directions!!!




For our books, including a new one sent to Blurb last night, we have a new blog here.

The new book conbines some photos with extracts from novel in progress, scenes which were inspired in part by a storm photographed. A sudden shock to the photographed past - a 1000gb external hard disk has stopped responding. So much for safely placing raw photos in an external brick!! But a fresh start is good and sometime maybe can unlock the mystery of the not-spinning disk... it may only be the power supply, of course...

I have been caught up by some political activity for a moment,

...though also setting up the devices in the house to make it easier to draw and paint (a huge Italian architects drawing board 1500x1000mm, $100 from eBay)



and a new (old - Mac G4) computer, to do the novel (portrait screen) and manage photos (landscape screen, second monitor) taken with a new (old) camera, a Fujifilm S3, which has best reputation for dynamic range (keeping the detail of the very bright, seeing into the dark at the same time).

Also we have acquired a timber jig to cut lumber of which we have huge new quantities at Bodalla (see two posts back)

.. and an (old and monstrous) radial arm saw from eBay to make furniture and studio, etc.... to make art from great pieces of wood, I hope. Two interacting things have this week triggered off impulses to design with wood. First, in making some garage space, finding a bin of children's wooden blocks. Second, watching a documentary about I.M Pei "Learning from Light". ... which gave new meaning to spilled children's wood blocks. At Bodalla we have great chunks of dark Eucalypt and other native timber and also lots of pale Paulownia. The precision of the radial arm saw may enable us to combine these in interesting ways, for different practical or aesthetic purposes.

The hammer will show the size of this log below, washed in in February flood